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Michael John Mollo
Michael John Mollo is an American music composer who has worked primarily for film and television. He composed the soundtrack for the [[Strider (2014)|2014 Strider]] as his first foray into fully composing for a video game.Michael John Mollo bio at reverbnation.com. Accessed November 25, 2019 Early Days Michael John Mollo was interested in composing music since an early age, forming his first rock band at age 16 after he learned to play the guitar. Mollo studied music composition at West Chester University of Pensilvania under Robert Maggio, and later went to the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati in pursuit of a master's degree in Music."About". Michael John Mollo's official website. Accessed November 25, 2019 Mollo draws his inspiration from great modern film composers including his mentor John Powell, Trent Reznor and Clint Mansell. Career In 2007 he received a postgraduate advanced certificate from the University of Southern California film-scoring program. During this time he also worked at Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions as an assistant to composer James Dooley, and later assistant to Christopher Lennertz at Sonic Fuel Studios. Early on his career Mollo contributed on projects such as The Simpsons Movie and Alvin and the Chipmunks. His first major contributions were as additional arranging, programming & orchestration in the 3D animated 2010 films Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and How to Train Your Dragon. His first full composer score was for the 2010 film Detective Force. He'd go on and work on other successful animated movies such as 2011's Rio, Kung Fu Panda 2 and 2012's The Lorax. His first video game work was for 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man for Xbox."Credits". Michael John Mollo's official website. Accessed November 25, 2019 Mollo was referred to Double Helix Games by film composer Michael Giacchino, who knew Double Helix VP Patrick Gilmore through their work in the Medal of Honors franchise. They knew they were looking for an electronic infused score and Mollo was at the time doing electronics and programming with Giacchino on Star Trek Into Darkness. Mollo was brought in very early during development of Strider.Wilken, Brenna (March 19, 2014). "Return of Hiryu - Strider 2014 OST (Review & Interview)" (English). Originalsoundversion.com. Retrieved from Archive.org. Accessed November 25, 2019 Strider Mollo worked together with the project's music director Andrew Dearing. Mollo sought to keep the "aural connection" between the tunes of the previous games and the gameplay, which he thought was very important. Besides maintaining a sound palette that'd both support the arrangements and push the sound forward, he was encounraged by the staff to explore a sense of space and depth. They decided to let the gameplay speak for Hiryu, and so Mollo focused primarily on creating music for the bosses and areas in the game. He used loose material provided (such as words, palettes, sketches and 3D renderings) to give each area its own sense of individuality. As the main focus was the gameplay and exploration, Mollo spent a long time crafting an unique theme and tune for each area. Similarly for enemies and bosses, Mollo sought to give each an unique sound palette and set of musical motives. He considers doing the bosses' themes the "most fun" part of the project.Geno, Anthony (March 8, 2014). "Strider Hiryu Returns: Composer Michael John Mollo On Leading Capcom's Legendary Ninja Into Another Light-Cypher Liberation". Sumthing.com. Retrieved from Archive.org. Accessed November 25, 2019 Mollo and Dearing worked in tandem to ensure the music of Strider was elastic and each music tune was able to support many states of game action. Dearing would handle in-game implementation, allowing Mollo to focus entirely in the creation of the score, which he'd present in several layers and Dearing would then sub mix each piece so that the audio would transition depending on the intensity of gameplay. Mollo understood that video game composing takes a different set of skills when compared to movie or tv, primarily due to the interactivity present in the media. Accostumed to working for weeks or days to deliver music for movies or shows, he found himself working in unison with Double Helix and delivering music for months. He found this schedule a "dream experience" that'd hardly be rivaled ever again. After Strider, Michael John Mollo has continued composing full time for movies, television and video game projects. He is currently serving as CEO and director of his own studio, Q6 Studios. References Category:Creators